Draghi’s negative interest rates help Eurozone’s cohesion

Super Mario did it again. Only months before leaving the helm of the European Central Bank he made sure his accommodative monetary policy will hold well, even after he leaves Frankfurt am Main. Last Thursday, he pushed interest rates below the zero level for at least another year. Even if his successor will be a […]

Trade war or not New York bankers will have it their way

The US and China agreed to hold talks on 7-8 January in Beijing to settle their trade differences, which have already eaten into both economies and disturb the global financial universe. If they fail to agree this week, the impact will be worse. It seems things are so bad, that the US Federal Reserve Chairman […]

Draghi keeps the euro cheap, helps debt refinancing, recapitalization of banks and growth

Last Thursday, the European Central Bank decided to keep flooding the Eurozone with hundreds of billions, despite strong objections coming from the frugal German-Dutch duo. Mario Draghi was adamant about that. It’s interesting to follow his response to a journalist’s remark, who reminded him that the “Dutch Central Bank President Klaas Knot said in a […]

Eurozone’s central bank leadership prepares for shoddier prospects

It has become commonplace to state that the European economy still doesn’t fare well after six years of recession or practical stagnation. For good reasons however in the past few days the horizon looked particularly darkened. Negative statistical evidence and meandering statements by key people are indicative of that. Inflation or rather disinflation statistics, persistently […]

Why the ECB had to clarify it caters for the entire Eurozone not just Germany?

Last Thursday morning this newspaper concluded that the “only EU institution with true European motives and vision remains the European Central Bank of Mario Draghi”. Just some hours later in that Thursday afternoon the European Sting was confirmed one hundred percent by Mario Draghi, the President of ECB, who said that “We have a mandate […]

ECB money bonanza not enough to revive euro area, Germany longs to rule with stagnation

During the days ahead of last Thursday’s 3 December meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, financial markets and market oriented media had been pressing for a stronger monetary accommodation (easing), than what President Mario Draghi finally announced in the afternoon of that day. As a result, the euro appreciated markedly with the dollar […]

Why the ECB prepares to flood the markets with more and free of charge euro; everybody needs that now

Mario Draghi’s statement of last Thursday from Malta that the European Central Bank’s “monetary policy accommodation will need to be re-examined at our December monetary policy meeting”, offered a strong support to all major capital markets, with stocks gaining a lot of ground and the euro receding slightly. Understandably, a generous increase of ECB’s monthly […]

Draghi reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects

Yesterday, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, during the Press conference following the meeting of the Governing Council, in answering a journalist’s question appeared quite reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects. Despite the fact that ECB’s staff projections for 2013 have been revised upwards, estimates for 2014 growth potential are now downgraded. Not to […]

Eurozone: New data show recession and debt closer to explosion

Yesterday the world was informed that Eurozone is stuck into recession, after the Eurostat, the EU statistical service, announced that the euro area GDP receded once more during the first quarter of this year. However, this was not news for those who follow closely what is happening in the single euro money zone. Only some […]

Can Eurozone stand economic and financial fragmentation?

Eurozone unemployment rate peaked in February 2013 at 12% but this number says nothing about the real structural problems of the single money zone. The burning issue is the fast growing divergence of unemployment opportunities between the surplus countries in the North and the over indebted member states in the South, plus Ireland. According to […]

Is ECB helping Germany to buy cheaply the rest of Europe?

Next Thursday 7 February the Governing Council of the European Central Bank will gather in Frankfurt in its regular monthly meeting, to discuss monetary policies and take the relevant decisions. Presumably there will be no change of ECB’s main interest rate, which is pegged at 0.75% as from 11 July 2012. Nor any other major […]